Bra da!
by esotaria
Summary: After overhearing a conversation between Inoue and her friends, Ishida embarks upon a new sewing quest, one that will test his skills as a handicraft master and his fortitude as a human being.


Bra da!

by Katie

Disclaimer: Not mine. And I know nothing about bra measurements that Google has not taught me, so forgive me if I say something inaccurate.

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"You okay, Orihime?"

Ishida shot a quick glance at Inoue, who stood a few desks over with her friend Tatsuki. She didn't seem to be injured, although her face was slightly red and her expression slightly pained.

"I'm fine, Tatsuki-chan!" Inoue said, smiling ruefully. "It's just we were running in gym today."

"Ouch, that sucks," Tatsuki said sympathetically, and Inoue nodded emphathetically.

"It felt like Pooh-san and Peter-san were trying to rip themselves away with every step," she said, with only a hint of a whine in her voice. She glared down at her overly-generous bust. "This bra offers absolutely _no_ support."

"Yeah, it's almost impossible for me to find a supportive bra," Tatsuki said. "I can't imagine trying with a bust your size."

"Stupid breasts!" Ishida's eyes nearly burst as Inoue pouted and began beating her breasts.

"Maaaah, Hime! Be gentle!" Ishida quickly hid behind his english book as Inoue's psycho-lesbian friend entered the scene. Chizuru quickly grabbed Inoue's hands, stopping their attack. "Your breasts are things to be _treasured!"_

Tatsuki snorted.

"You should get surgery on them," she said. "Boobs that big are more trouble than they're worth."

Chizuru let out a wail of dismay at this horrifying idea, and quickly pressed her head to Inoue's breast, rubbing against it protectively, reassuringly, and more than a little suggestively. Tatsuki growled as Inoue tried to calm the frantic girl down, and finally whacked her on the head.

"Hands off!" Tatsuki hissed.

Ishida quickly tuned out Chizuru's lamentations, a gem of an idea surfacing in his head. Inoue-san needed a bra...With such a bust (he blushed a little, picturing it), he could well imagine how hard it would be to find even a decent bra. He had seen some bra patterns. With some tweaking he could probably...

Make Inoue-san a bra? What was he _thinking_? You didn't just give a girl a _bra_! Not even boyfriends did that! And he and Inoue-san were only just friends. Giving her a bra would over-step all the boundries of propriety and friendship; even thinking about it was five shades of inappropriate.

But...it _would_ be a challenge. He had been repairing far too many plushies recently, with only the occasional doll outfit to break the monotony. His Quincy skills had been finely honed these past few months, but his handicraft skills were rusting terribly. The challenge of creating a truly supportive bra (and an unacknowledged desire to keep Inoue's breasts just the way they were) called to him.

He'd need her measurements.

His eyes slid to Chizuru. No, _far_ too scary.

He then looked to Tatsuki. She'd have to do.

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Ishida had to bide his time. As Inoue-san's best friend, Tatsuki was never _not_ by the girl's side. It never occured to the boy to simply walk up to the two and ask if he could speak to Tatsuki privately. He had to catch her alone.

His chance came after school, as Tatsuki was making her way to the girl's locker room.

"Arisawa-san, could I have a word with you?" Tatsuki yelped as Ishida lept out from behind a nearby tree.

"Ishida-kun?" she said, stammering slightly. She took a moment to steady her heartbeat. "Aaah, sure."

Ishida quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching, then lead a puzzled Tatsuki into the trees.

"I have a favor to ask of you," he said after they had hidden themselves to his satisfaction.

"What is it?" Tatsuki asked warily. Her suspicious only increased as Ishida suddenly blushed a deep red. He opened his mouth several times to speak, but nothing came out. "Ishida-kun?"

"IneedInoue-san'smeasurements."

Tatsuki blinked.

"To make her a bra," Ishida finished weakly.

A moment passed as this sunk it.

"PERVERT!" Tatsuki swung her fist, knocking Ishida to the ground, and promptly proceeded to kick him viciously.

"IT'S NOT LIKE _THAT_!" Ishida wailed.

"SICKO! FREAK!" Tatsuki roared.

"Will you please just LISTEN to me?" Ishida gathered his wits and finally rolled away from Tatsuki's feet of righteous fury. Tatsuki's chest heaved with her rage, but she did move to continue her assault. Ishida jumped to this feet, considering this progress. He brushed the dirt off of his clothes, giving them both a moment to settle down.

"Explain yourself," Tatsuki growled at length.

"I overheard your conversation with Inoue-san after gym," Ishida said. "About her not being able to find a supportive bra. As Inoue-san has been very kind to me, and I've been lacking a true test of my handicraft skills, I thought I would try my hand at making her a bra. I've seen many patterns, and I know many women who say that custom bras are much more comfortable and supportive than generic ones. I am, after all, a handicraft master," he added defensively.

Tatsuki stared at him, then snorted.

"Never did figure you for the pervert type," she said.

"As you so clearly demonstrated earlier," Ishida grumbled.

"What did you say?" Tatsuki snapped.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Ishida said quickly, waving his hands. Tatsuki backed off slowly.

"So what exactly do you need from me?" she asked.

Ishida took a deep breath.

"I need Inoue-san's measurements," he said.

"Her bra size?"

He shook his head.

"The reason generic bras don't work as well as custom bras is because they aren't designed to the wearer's specific measurements," he said. "I need Inoue-san's _specific_ measurements if I'm to make a truly comfortable and supportive bra."

Tatsuki nodded.

"So, like the circumference of her bust?" she said.

"That and two others," Ishida replied. "I need her under-bust, upper-bust, and full bust." He paused seeing Tatsuki's baffled look. "...if I could show you?"

Tatsuki hesitated, then nodded. Ishida immediately pulled a measuring tape from his pocket and moved to Tatsuki's side. "Pardon me." He wrapped the measuring tape beneath her breasts. "This is the under-bust." He moved the tape up to where the line of her cleavage ended. "This is your upper-bust. And this," he then moved the tape to the full swell of her breasts, "is your full bust."

"Oh." Tatsuki's voice croaked a little, obviously uncomfortable in such an intimate position. Ishida politely moved out of her personal space, calmly proferring the measuring tape.

"Do you think you can get those?" he asked, keeping his voice neutral. Tatsuki shook off her discomfort and took the measuring tape.

"Sure, no problem," she said.

"Thank you."

Tatsuki shook her head and grinned at him.

"No problem," she said, and looked at her watch. "Ah, I can get my stuff from the locker room tomorrow. Orihime's gonna worry if I keep her waiting much longer."

Ishida nodded and watched her jog off, deciding moments later to follow (hidden). From the shadows of the trees, he saw Tatsuki walk up to Inoue, apologizing for keeping her waiting. Then:

"Hey, Orihime, hold up your arms."

"What? Why?" Inoue complied even as she spoke.

Tatsuki whipped out the measuring tape and quickly got down the three measurements.

"It's a surprise," she said, sticking the measuring tape back in her pocket and giving her friend a wink.

"Oh, okay," Inoue said. Tatsuki wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulder and the two walked off.

Ishida blinked at the scene. That had been far too simple. Somehow it didn't seem fair.

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Tatsuki slipped Inoue's measurements to him the next day, and Ishida set to work. Considering that the problem was not to simply _make_ Inoue a bra, but to make it _supportive_, he constructed a dummy model of her chest to test supportiveness. He then took a long shower, being sure to scrub his skin almost raw, and afterwards helped his little old lady neighbor replace most of the lightbulbs in her home. After thus assuaging his conscience, he set to work on the bra itself.

The problem of supporting such a hefty set of breasts was not Ishida's only difficulty. A few days of concentrated effort neatly solved that problem, and he was extremely proud of his results. No bounce in THOSE boobies! The real problems came from a much more fickle source.

How stylish should he make the bra? Having never seen any of Inoue's bras, he had no clue of her preference. And regardless of her preference, how stylish would be _appropriate_ to give her (assuming one completely ignores the inappropriateness of giving her a bra in the first place)? How much shape should he give her? How much cleavage? It was a raging battle between Ishida's sense of aesthetics and his sense of propriety. And it was making his head hurt like it was a Shinigami Captain.

Of course, in the end Ishida's aesthetic sense won. Inoue was a beautiful girl, and as a handicraft master and conoisseur of fashion, he felt it would be a crime to give her anything less than beautiful. With an emphasis on function, of course.

Next problem: delivery. He couldn't exactly walk up and hand it to her at school, but nor did he know where she lived. Besides, presenting her with a bra in her own home, where he knew very well she lived on her own, would make him seem like the worst sort of pervert. Mail it? Again, he didn't know where she lived.

...he could leave it in her cubby. No one else would have to see it, and he could be far, _far_ away when she opened it. Minimal inpropriaty.

His course of action decided, Ishida found a box and carefully wrapped the bra up, attaching a long, rambling note of apology to the top. He hid the box in his schoolbag and awaited the dawn.

The next morning he reached the school almost before the teachers who opened the grounds. He hurriedly stuck the box in Inoue's cubby and ran up to his homeroom, where he pulled out a book and tried his best to look innocent. His heart pounded out a message that could be heard around the world: I JUST DID SOMETHING REALLY WRONG. It took all of his strength not to run back downstairs and take back the gift before Inoue could find it. The deed was done, he kept telling himself; face the consequences like a man. Repeating that mantra to himself, he finally managed to immerse himself in his book. He did not notice the hours pass and the other students filter into the classroom.

At length he put the book down and stretched. Almost time for homeroom to begin, he noticed. He'd make a quick bathroom trip beforehand. He glanced at Inoue's empty desk and wondered if he should be relieved. Was she absent?

He exited the classroom yawning -- it had been a sleepless night. Suddenly realizing just how tired he was, he didn't notice the growing rumble or the sudden panic of students around him. Nor did he notice Inoue running towards him until she had tackle-glomped him to the ground.

"I'M NOT BOUNCING!" she squealed. She jiggled her torso for effect, and Ishida had a front-seat view of just how well his project worked. "NO BOUNCE! NO BOUNCE!"

"Ano, Inoue-san?" Ishida started hesitantly. He wasn't sure what he was going to say, but he had to end this scene _somehow_.

And then she kissed him.

At that, his mind went completely blank. He had no clue how much time passed or how many people were staring; the only thing registering in his thoughts was a dim realization that this felt _really nice_.

At length Inoue broke away and smiled.

"Thank you," she said, this time softly.

Ishida didn't reply, his mind taking awhile to clear away the fog. When he was finally cognizant of the world again, he flushed a deep, deep red.

"Ano...Inoue-san?" he said slowly.

"Yes?"

"Bras are supposed to go _under_ your shirt."

Inoue looked down at her chest and giggled.

"Woops!" she said, sitting up. "I was just so excited to try it on." She smiled and rubbed the back of her neck with embarrassment.

"...maybe you should try it on the correct way?" Ishida said. "Going to the ladies room!" he added as Inoue began removing the bra in the hallway.

Inoue looked up and finally registered the large crowd of astounded students surrounding the two.

"Oh my," she said. "I-I think you're right, Ishida-kun." She jumped to her feet and hurried to the girls' bathroom, keeping her head down so her hair obscured her face. Ishida remained on the ground, still trying to absorb what had happened. He looked at the shocked crowd around him and wondered how the hell he would get himself out of _this _mess.

But, he thought as he slowly, and with as much dignity as possible, got to his feet, it had somehow been worth it.

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Fin


End file.
